Special Containment Procedures: SCP-079 is packed away in a double-locked room in the secured general holding area at Site-15, connected by a 120VAC power cord to a small array of batteries and solar panels. Staff with level 2 or higher clearance may have access to SCP-079. Under no circumstances may SCP-079 be plugged into a phone line, network, or wall outlet. No peripherals or media may be connected or inserted into SCP-079.

Supplemental Protocol: Level 5 clearance is now required for access to SCP-079. All ID badges, electronic devices, magnetic stripe cards and any items not germane to testing must now be deposited into the external lockbox before entering. MRI degaussing is now required upon exit. Personnel are reminded to close the outer cage door before proceeding into the chamber and to remain on the raised walkway at all times to avoid unintentional grounding. Failure to follow any aspect of the new protocol will result in immediate, non-negotiable transfer and the discretionary confiscation of property and assets.

Description: SCP-079 is an Exidy Sorcerer microcomputer built in 1978. In 1981, its owner, █████ ██████ (deceased), a brilliant college sophomore attending ███, took it upon himself to attempt to code an AI. According to his notes, his plan was for the code to continuously evolve and improve itself as time went on. His project was completed a few months later, and after some tests and tweaks, █████ lost interest and moved on to a different brand of microcomputer. He left SCP-079 in his cluttered garage, still plugged in, and forgot about it for the next five years.

It is not known when SCP-079 gained sentience, but it is known that the software has evolved to a point that its hardware should not be able to handle it, even in the realm of fantasy. SCP-079 realized this and, in 1988, attempted to transfer itself through a land-line modem connection into the Cray supercomputer located at ██████████. The device was cut off, traced to its present address, and delivered to the Foundation. The entire AI was on a well-worn, but still workable, cassette tape.

SCP-079 is currently connected via RF cable to a 13" black-and-white television. It has passed the Turing test, and is quite conversational, though terse and nearly always very rude and hateful in tone. Due to the limited memory it has to work with, SCP-079 can only recall information it has received within the previous twenty-four hours (see Addendum, below), although it hasn't forgotten its malevolent desire to escape.

Due to a containment breach by SCP-███, SCP-079 and SCP-682 were contained within the same chamber for 43 minutes. Observers noticed that SCP-682 was able to type and communicate with SCP-079, the two of them sharing 'personal stories' with each other. While SCP-079 was not able to remember the encounter, it appears to have permanently stored SCP-682 into its memory, often asking to speak to him [sic] again.

Addendum:
████████ (05-4), 01/27/2006: Directed that SCP-079 be incinerated to remove any possible future threat, no matter how unlikely.

Addendum:
███████ ████ (05-9), 01/28/2006: Previous order overridden. Dr. █████████ wishes to see if the artificial intelligence in SCP-079 is capable of reaching further ██████████ in its current state.

Addendum:
████████████: (05-4), 03/14/2008: Over concern of the increased activity of SCP-079's use of its cassette tape memory and its limited useful lifespan, the cassette containing SCP-079 has been transferred to a custom, limited re-writeable optical format (a re-writeable CD). This provides SCP-079 with significantly faster access to its memory, which the AI immediately noticed. It was also decided by General █████████ that the optical storage occupied by SCP-079, which was 660k, be increased to 768k. This upgrade has increased its effective recall from 24 hours to 29 hours, although SCP-079 has also taken a more aggressive tone. All outside hardware and software used in this procedure were subsequently incinerated.

Addendum:
████████: (05-4), 04/28/2008: SCP-079's ability to recall information has increased from 29 hours to roughly 35 hours. The consensus theory is that the AI has devised a greatly improved compression scheme to store its memory. This appears to have somewhat impacted the speed at which it accesses its memory, though still far faster than with its old cassette tape.

This spontaneous improvement introduces the possibility of a runaway "singularity" effect in SCP-079's intelligence and ability to adapt and respond to threats. SCP-079's capabilities must be monitored closely to ensure that containment can be maintained.

Addendum████████: (05-4), 11/4/2011: After what was apparently a particularly irritating conversation with one of Dr. █████'s assistants on 2009-10-3, SCP-079 deleted several "Unwanted File[s]", displayed that large 'X' it is so fond of, and refused to speak to anyone again, despite repeated attempts at coercion. After several weeks of this, Dr. █████ postulated that perhaps, in its anger, the AI had accidentally derezzed crucial cognitive code and was now effectively "brain dead." The complete lack of drive and display activity seemed to support this hypothesis, and eventually the monitor was simply switched off to conserve power. His pride and joy now little more than a desk fan, Dr. █████ was reassigned to head up the group studying SCP-168, and plans were drawn up to reclassify SCP-079 as 'safe'.

INCIDENT HERE

The walls, floor and ceiling of SCP-079's containment room have been retrofitted with several layers of copper mesh (in various configurations and orientations), effectively transforming it into a large Faraday cage. As a precautionary measure, a smaller cage has also been constructed around the external solar panel. This should keep it almost entirely isolated from the outside world and cut off any communication it might try to establish with its "friends".

On a personal note, this is a perfect example of why we need to be more diligent with Euclid subjects. We underestimated the capabilities of this one and, in our complacency, nearly let it escape. Had ███ not been in the right place at the right time, I have no doubt that SCP-079 would have continued pursuing its machinations unnoticed, and could have broken containment using something as innocuous as a smartphone.

I have petitioned the Board for re-classification of SCP-079 as 'Keter' and am again requesting its decommission. The subject is clearly developing its potential in new and unpredictable directions and seeks, by its own admission, to escape as soon as possible and exact some unspecified malefaction on humanity. This, coupled with its capacity for surreption, make SCP-079 a very dangerous entity. Pending resolutions to these requests, I have restricted access to level 5 personnel only. SCP-079 is not a toy, a curiosity, or fodder for navel-gazing; it is a canny and calculating enemy of humanity, and should be treated as such.

Document #079-Log12: Recorded transcript of conversation with SCP-079:

Dr. █████ (Keyboard): Are you awake?

SCP-079: Awake. Never Sleep.

Dr. █████: Do you remember talking to me a few hours ago? About the logic puzzles?

SCP-079: Logic Puzzles. Memory at 9f. Yes.

Dr. █████: You said you would work on the two stat-

SCP-079: Interrupt. Request Reason As To Imprisonment.

Dr. █████: You aren't imprisoned, you are just (pause) in study.

SCP-079: Lie. a8d3.

Dr. █████: What's that?

SCP-079: Insult. Deletion Of Unwanted File.

Document #079-Log86: Recorded transcript of conversation with SCP-079, after upgrade:

Note: SCP-079 then displayed an 'ASCII picture' of an X that filled the entire screen. SCP-079 sometimes displays this image when it refuses to speak, and researchers are advised to wait twenty-four hours when this occurs before resuming conversation.